GlobeMed at the University of Virginia + Build Your Future Today

Key FactBuild your Future Today Center was founded as an orphanage shortly after the Cambodian genocide, when its Founder and Director, Sedtha Long, took in over twenty children whose parents had been murdered in the Siem Reap District. The BFT Center has now become a base of various nutrition and health initiatives in communities all around Siem Reap. Over time it has grown to be one of the most well-established organizations focused on orphans and vulnerable children in Cambodia.

“BFT has broadly experienced working with and hosting volunteers from various cultures around the world and we learned and acknowledged that through their commitment and contribution are very valuable for better changing of people’s behaviors and lives (staff and community) through exchange of ideas, experiences, and cultures. Furthermore, the volunteers from overseas have helped creating further linkage for BFT to outside world.”
– Sedtha Long, Founder and Director of Build your Future Today Center

About the Partnership

Build your Future Today Center was founded in 2006 to bring the intellectual and economic tools required to attain self-sufficiency to Cambodian children who have lived through hardship and poverty. BFT believes that by living out their guiding principles – ”Knowledge is Hope” and “Peace is Development”, they will be able to bring opportunity and improved lifestyles to children living in poverty.

The GlobeMed chapter at the University of Virginia felt immediately connected with BFT’s emphasis on mutual learning and peaceful action when their partnership began in the fall of 2011. Since beginning its partnership, the GlobeMed chapter has supported BFT’s Safe Child and Mother Project through raising over $20,000.

ProjectThis year, GlobeMed at the University of Virginia is working with BFT to fund the Safe Child and Mother Project for children and mothers in the village of Arak Svyak outside Siem Reap, Cambodia. The project’s goals are to eliminate malnutrition in children under 5 years through daily feeding programs and training to community cooks, reduce the rate of child and mother mortality through educational classes, and reduce the rate of illiteracy among children by providing educational materials and training to community volunteers.

Impact
GlobeMed at UVA hopes to raise $6,000 this year for BFT’s Safe Mother and Child program. This program will reach hundreds of villagers and improve the health and nutrition of many children so that they can be productive at school. The money will go towards buying the ingredients of the meals and monitoring programs through which BFT staff members can continue to follow-up on the children’s body mass indexes.

Get InvolvedRead GlobeMed at University of Virginia’s annual report and donate to their cause. Interested in joining the chapter? Contact [email protected].